Section: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (USA)

Sara Zielinski, with her mother Elizabeth, center, and a volunteer at a pre-Shabbat program at the Jewish Community Center of Krakow. Sara is part of the inaugural class of Frajda, the first pluralistic Jewish nursery and preschool in Krakow since World War II. (Courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Krakow) KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Michal...

Hasidic pilgrims praying near the burial site of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, Sept. 14, 2015. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) (JTA) — Ukrainian authorities are preparing for a record pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Jews gathering in the city of Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Authorities are expecting up to 40,000 Jewish pilgrims ahead of...

(JTA) – A judge in Belarus cleared the way for the construction of apartments atop two former Jewish cemeteries. Separately, unidentified individuals smashed 24 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Ukraine. Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, in a statement wrote that the incident in Ukraine was discovered Tuesday at...

The Brodsky Synagogue in Kiev, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons) (JTA) — An Israeli man was found shot dead near a Kiev synagogue in what is believed to have been a robbery rather than an anti-Semitic incident. The body of Sachroch Torsonov, 29, of Jerusalem, was found late Wednesday night near the Brodsky Synagogue in the center of the Ukrainian...

(JTA) — A leader of Russian Jews called on Poland to avoid any exclusion of Russia from an international forum that is responsible for preserving for educational purposes the former Nazi death camp of Sobibor. Mikhael Mirilashvili, the president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, issued the call Sunday, following claims by Russian officials that...

The Paradise Apartments hotel in Arosa, near Zurich, Switzerland. (Courtesy of Paradise Apartments hotel) (JTA) — A chuckle tickled my throat as Ruth Thomann, a Swiss hotelier who posted signs urging her “Jewish guests” to shower before entering the pool, assured me that she has “nothing against Jews.” To be clear, I don’t find racism...

“The Unbowed Man” statue at the Khatyn Memorial in Belarus commemorating Yuzif Kaminsky, a survivor of Nazi atrocities, and his slain son Adam. (John Oldale/Wikimedia Commons) KHATYN, Belarus (JTA) — Even by Soviet standards, the massive memorial complex near Minsk to the victims of Nazi atrocities stands out for its immense scale and ambition....

(JTA) — Before murdering tens of thousands of Jews at Babi Yar near Kiev, Nazi troops dumped at the killing site dozens of Jewish headstones they had stolen from Jewish cemetery, researchers in Ukraine discovered. “The tombstones were removed from a local Jewish cemetery during the Holocaust and thrown into the same ravines where over 150,000...

Villagers attending a fake Jewish wedding in the Polish village of Radzanow, Aug 5, 2017. (Jonny Daniels/From the Depths) (JTA) — Nostalgia for Jews is a well-documented phenomenon in Eastern Europe, with cultural and even substantial commercial aspects. In Ukraine, so-called Jewish-themed restaurants with pork-heavy menus compete for tourists,...

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli blogger who was sentenced to three years in prison in Azerbaijan for illegally entering Nagorno-Karabakh has asked to be extradited to Israel. Alexander Lapshin, who also holds Russian and Ukrainian citizenship, appealed to Israel to extradite him from Azerbaijan, Haaretz reported, citing Lapshin’s attorney. He...